


Fools Never Move On

by alexxxford



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Dan/Jev, M/M, Slash, f1 slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-03
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-07 09:18:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/746859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexxxford/pseuds/alexxxford
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of days that define Dan and Jev's relationship (including 'that' article).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Malaysia (Race 2)

**Author's Note:**

> (uneven chapters as they are divided into scenarios, each chapter is a sort of stand-alone ficlet.. dunno if that makes sense?)

"You two share a room?" Marks eyebrows raise in amusement as he arrives at the room of his fellow Aussie (and apparently his teammate too), late one afternoon.  
   
"Sorry, we're not on a big team like you, with millions of pounds" snaps a disgruntled Frenchman from his bed where he's rummaging about his suitcase, looking for his toiletries. "It's not like we're sharing a bed"  
   
"Well, not usually" Dan giggles, receiving one death glare and one raised eyebrow.  
   
"Hey, whatever floats your boat" Mark laughs raising his hands defensively with a laugh.  
   
"It is not like that and you know it" Jean-Eric grumbles, finding his toothpaste and marching past the two of them to the bathroom. "Childish" he continues into the loo, still grumbling to himself. "As if I'd lower myself to him. I have stand-" his voice is cut off by the door slamming shut behind him.  
   
"God! What's eating at him?!" Marks still laughing.  
   
"Eh" Dan shrugs. "Mood swings"  
   
"I don't know how you out up with that! And I give you props,  Seb’s a solid guy, but there's no way in hell I could share a room with him!"  
   
Dan grins. "We're like, best friends too" he's half joking but half not.  
   
"Well good for you. Anyway, the flight back to Oz is 8pm, check in about half 6"  
   
"Thanks mate! I'll see you tomorrow then"   
   
Dan closes the door and lays down on his bed, watching cartoons on the only English speaking channel he can find. Well except for a repeated twenty minute news segment which he’s already seen five times this evening.  
   
Ten minutes later JEV emerges from the bathroom after showering. Towel sling low on his hips, hair damp and flat against his head.  
   
"Why'd you have to make it sound like that" he's still moaning, using a second towel to dry his hair briskly. "Tell him we share a bed"  
   
"We do sometimes" Dan shrugs, not seeing the problem. They're both straight, both have girlfriends. Well, Jean-Eric had had one up until recently. But it shouldn't a big deal.  
   
"Not through choice,” the Frenchman continues, falling silent for a moment as he disappears back into the bathroom, before picking up exactly where he left off when re-entering clothed. "It's not like either of us want to share. We just have to!"  
   
"Well I don't mind" Daniel says, a little hurt as he's starting to feel their closeness offends Jean-Eric more than he knew. "And we're both straight so I don't see what the problem is. It means nothing"  
   
Jean-Eric falls silent now, a pink flush evident on his cheeks.  
   
"Right?" Dan prompts, confused and feeling the need of confirmation that his teammate doesn't utterly hate him.  
   
But he doesn't get it. "It's hot in here" Is his only response as his roomie marches over and dramatically flings open the window.  
   
"JEV what's going on?" Dan asks quietly, following him to the window and standing beside him.  
   
"Nothing."  
   
"I know that's a lie" an awkward silence falls heavily over the room as the two men stare out into the black velvet night. JEV's voice is so quiet when he speaks Dan is afraid to move invade he doesn't hear.  
   
"You know I broke up with her. Lizzie"  
   
"I know I'm sorry dude-" Dan begins quickly but is cut off almost immediately  
   
"I've been... sleeping with guys"  
   
It's not that it's a problem for Dan, it's just a shock. He pulls away from the window quickly, his jaw dropping.

His teammate is blushing hard now, knuckles white as he clutches the fence surrounding their modest balcony. He’s waiting for him to elaborate but he doesn’t say anything more and the silence between them grows awkward, forcing Dan to say something, but Dan doesn’t work well during ‘awkward’.

“Why?” He says, mentally slapping himself in the face. _What a stupid thing to say!_  
  
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Jean-Eric snaps suddenly in an unusually harsh tone. He turns to look Dan straight in the face, and with more conviction repeats himself. "I've been sleeping with guys. I like them, sometimes more than girls. _Often_ more than girls".  
   
Dan takes a moment to digest it, but finally manages a shrug. "Okay." he swallows. "So you're gay. No problem." He’s actually more scared of his teammates hostile reaction at the moment.  
   
"I'm bi" Jean-Eric corrects in a quieter voice, the sudden burst of anger disappearing as quickly as it had arrived.  
   
"Since when?" Dan asks, regretting it immediately as it hardly makes sense but that doesn't seem to matter.  
   
"I don't know" Jean-Eric is lost, looking out the window as if entranced in a beautiful view, rather than almost pitch black darkness. His tense shoulders drop a little and he lets out a deep breath making Dan himself relax too. He pats his teammate on the back and goes back to sit down, not sure what he thinks of this, not sure if he has a right to think anything. JEV doesn’t notice he’s gone and continues "I had suspicions in back in school. I kissed a few boys. But then I had girlfriends up until recently. Then I just..." he looks over his shoulder to Dan who's sat back on his bed. He hardly seems to be listening now, his eyes averted back to the tv screen. This has the adverse effect Dan had intended and makes part of JEV angry again because he feels like he's confessing, confiding something massive in him and he hardly cares. Part of him though just wants to hug Dan. There can’t be many teammates who'd take this so cooly. Especially teammates who he’s shared a bed with. It’s not like that. It never has been. He shares with Dan because he trusts him, feels comfortable with him. But still, he should probably just be grateful.  
He continues in a quieter voice, more for his own benefit than Dan’s, trying not to yell at Dan. _Why does he want to do that?_

 It feels good to be getting this off his chest after all this time.  
   
"I kissed a few boys in school, l then only dated girls, but I was always curious.” He repeats. “When me and Lizzie broke up I went out a lot, and one night some guy just.. came up and starting talking to me and buying me drinks-"  
   
"Were you wearing that scarf?" Dan giggles, eyes not leaving Tom and Jerry, referring to the pale blue red bull scarf they both own but that he refuses to wear because it's too 'girly'.  
   
JEV ignores the comment and continues, although a small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. Admittedly he was mad at Dan for no reason but it never ceases to amazing him how Dan can evaporate his foul moods with one small comment. "I ended up going back with him that night and.. the rest is.. how you say, 'history'. From then on, I just went back with whoever I could, man or woman” he shrugs, looking over to his teammate for a reaction.  
   
"You’re just greedy. _Slut_ " Dan laughs, casting him a smile. Jean Eric comes back over to the bed, all physical tension has dissipated and now he just feels tired. He hits Dan with a pillow as he lays down on the skinny bed, less than a foot from his.  
"You're not gonna try and kiss me in the night are you?" Dan’s laughing as he continues to be beaten with the pillow, finding it too funny to defend himself.  
   
"Ew no! I have far better taste!"  
   
So the two of them turn off the tv and lights and curl up in their separate beds and fall asleep, neither feeling any different towards the other than they had before, because that’s just the  beauty of them.


	2. China (Race 3)

The door flies open, startling JEV as he's taking a pee in their hotel room loo. Dan skids in on the tiled floor in his socks.  
   
"Where’s my lucky pants?" he panics, lifting the towel up of the floor and searching amongst the clothes left sprawled about.  
   
"Don't you knock?!" Jean-Eric grumbles, pulling his pants back up indignantly and fastening his expensive belt.  
   
"This is a disaster! I can't find my lucky pants!" the Australian continues, ripping back the shower curtain frantically. "I must have left them at home!"  
   
"Okay" Jean-Eric shrugs, now washing his hands.  
   
"You don't understand! I always wear the same pants when I race! Oh god, I'm not gonna be able to race!" he panics.  
   
"Wait, you always wear the same pants? Ew!" JEV laughs, splashing him with cool water.  
   
"I wash them!" Dan moans storming back into the bedroom and climbing into bed, wrapping the quilt around his body like a cocoon and hiding himself.  
   
JEV laughs at his over-dramatasism, striding over to the bed and poking the wailing quilt cover.  
   
"How can I have left them at home!"  
   
"Daniel pull yourself together! You're letting the side down!" he chides but to no avail. "Daniel!" he pokes him again, harder this time and somehow Dan loses balance and topples off the bed, landing in a pile on the floor.  
   
"Dan!" JEV rushes forwards, laying on his belly where Dan had just been, his head sticking over the edge of the bed he pulls the quilt off his teammate. "Are you okay?"  
   
"That wouldn't have happened if I'd had my lucky pants" he moans, rubbing his side where he fell.  
   
Jean-Eric pulls him back up onto the bed, leaving them laying unnaturally close.  
   
"Hey, you don't need your pants" he rubs Daniels arm soothingly.

“ _You_ would say that” Dan says still in a mock-stroppy voice but his jibe at his teammate reveals he’s over the worst of it.

JEV punches him hard but Dan’s laughing too much at his own wittiness to even notice.  "No I mean you're doing really good this season!"  
   
Dan lays on his back, right shoulder pressed against JEV's left. "You said I was letting the side down" he points out, staring at the ceiling.  
   
"I was joking!" Jean-Eric replies, mortified at the idea his teammate might have actually  taken him seriously.  
   
"I don't want to let you down" he says quietly, stunning JEV into silence. The both lie side by side quietly for a few more minutes before the Frenchman breaks their silence.  
   
"You know you could never let me down".  
   
Another long silence follows, but it’s not awkward this time. It’s the kind of comfortable silence you only get with the people you're close to.  
   
"I'm proud to be your teammate. There's nothing I like better than trying to beat you."  
   
"Too bad you never do it!" Dan laughs, lightening the mood he'd suddenly turned deep. Unusually deep for them.  
   
“Fuck off mate! I’m gonna _have_ you this season!” Jean-Eric reaches across, thumping him in a joking way.

“Oh, _have_ me will you?” and Dan springs up off the bed, knowing the beating he’s gonna get for this comment, and he can’t control his laughter as he darts to the other end of the room away from his teammate who’s already on his feet with a pillow held menacingly in his hand. “I thought you wouldn’t _lower yourself”_ The Australian continues bravely, backing into a corners as JEV jumps over his bed.

“I wouldn’t! I’m not that desperate! Besides, I am so out of your league!” and then he’s on him, beating him with the cushion as Dan’s back slides down the wall and he’s trying to protect himself with his arms.

“Are you joking! I’m a catch!” Dan splutters, rolling out across the floor and jumping to his feet, darting to the other side of the room. “And I’m ripped” and in the second it takes him to admire his biceps the French man is on him again but this time he grabs Jean-Eric’s hoodie off the back of a chair and fights back with it.

“Fucking.. eugh” and Jean-Eric is jumping away this time, running into the bathroom as he is attacked by his own hoody. “Dan!” he’s yelling as Dan jams his foot in the doorway so JEV can’t close it.

“You take it back!” Dan is in uncontrollable fits of laughter and it’s infections.

“No! It’s true!”

And Dan forces the door open, stronger than the Frenchman and backs him up against the wall in their wet room. “Take it back!” Dan demands again, holding his teammate firmly but JEV has got the giggles now, which is a rare and beautiful sight.

“No!” he splutters, then Dan remembers something and begins tickling his teammate which just finishes him off. “No no stop!! Dan stop!!” he calls, totally out of control. “Dan!”

“Say it!”

“You’re a catch! Dan you’re a catch please stop!” but Dan is enjoying his new-found power to stop straight away, enjoying the way such a tiny movement from his fingers can illicit such reactions from his usually controlled friend. His mind wanders off somewhere where JEV is beneath him on a bed, and Dan has totally control over him, and once again, the slightest movement..  
 _Fuck_ , he shakes his head, not willing to lose his upper-hand.

“Say you’d be lucky to get me!”

“Fuck off Daaaa- _I’d be lucky to have you_! Dan!”

And Dan stops, letting Jean-Eric nervously straighten, but doesn’t step away, their bodies pressed together, both panting, in sudden silence. JEV’s shoulders are rising and falling hard as he looks up to make eye contact, an unexplainable look in his eyes. He feels kind of weak at the knee’s. Dan looks so… over-powering in front of him and he can’t deny that it’s kind of a turn on. It could be anyone, sure. But being dominated, yeah that’s pretty hot.

Dan breaks him out of his trance, stepping back quickly, putting half a foot between them and Jean-Eric is frustrated by this movement, and thinking on his feet, reaches out with his left hand, flicking the metal dial, unleashing an unforgiving burst of cool water right over Dan. Sure, it splashes him too, but Dan’s expression makes it so worth it.

  
“I can’t believe you did that” Dan is grumbling as he dries his hair, newly changed into his warm, dry, pyjamas.

“Believe it” the French man shrugs. What did he expect? He was hardly going to let him get away with that. Dan flicks him with the towel, making him raise an eyebrow. “You really wanna go again?”

“Not now” Dan drops onto the bed next to him and sighs contently, stretching out, yawning. “You think other drivers do this?” he asks, closing his eyes lightly.

“No, other drivers aren’t idiots”

“We’re not idiots. We’re cool” Dan grins.


	3. Monaco pt 1

"Where's your mobile?"  
   
"In the bathroom, I'll just grab it"  
   
"But-"  
   
Dan slips into the bathroom and picks up his phone off the counter.  
   
"Once again, knock!" Jean-Eric calls from the shower, looking over his shoulder through the steamy glass. Dan looks up briefly, making eye contact, never looking elsewhere.  
   
"Oh shut up, there's nothing to see man!"  
   
"Fuck off, _branleur_!"  
   
Dan laughs and steps back out the bathroom, passing his phone to his PR to enter in the dates he needs to remember.  
   
"All sorted mate!" he announces, handing him back his phone.  
   
As soon as their room door closes Dan bursts back into the bathroom in hysterics. "Man you should of seen his face" Dan laughs.  
   
"You shouldn't do that!" JEV reprimands him as his teammate turns to face the door allowing him to step out of the shower and wrap a towel around his waist. "People will get suspicious of us!" he whips him with a spare towel, making Dan fall out of the bathroom and scramble away.   
   
"Dude there's nothing to be suspicious of! Everyone knows you're gay anyway"  
   
"Bi!"  
   
"Whatever!"  
   
"You seem to like seeing me naked, perhaps you are too!" JEV teases his now blushing teammate. It’s an on-going joke between the two of them, forever teasing the other about their sexuality.  
   
"Ew no way! Besides, you're _so_ not my type!" he laughs, letting himself drop onto his back on the bed.  
   
"I'm everyone's type" Jean-Eric rolls his eyes as if it's fact whilst trying to keep a straight face.  He wanders round to his side of the bed picking up his deodorant and spraying himself, before digging around in his bag and finding his aftershave and adding a splash of that too.

“Why’re you putting on aftershave?” Dan frowns, sitting up now.

“I’m going out” he replies casually, padding over to the wardrobe and flicking through his clothes, all neatly hung up, as opposed to Dan’s which are all still in his suitcase.

“You never said!”

Jean-Eric looks over his shoulder to his pouting teammate. “You can come if you want?” he suggests, turning back to the task at hand. _Which shirt?_

“No.. you don’t want me tagging along…” Dan mumbles in a questioning way, making it plainly obvious he wants to.

JEV picks out two shirts, a pale blue and a navy blue and holds them out in front of him. “Dan if you want to come just come but I’m leaving soon and I won’t be seen with you like that so you’d better get ready” he says, eyes never moving from the shirts, his back to the bed where Dan sits in baggy jeans and a white vest, still for a moment before scrambling to his feet quickly.

“Okay!” he dives onto the floor, pulling out his case and unzipping it, rifling through. “Shit, my shirts are all wrinkled..”

“That’s why you should hang up your clothes” Jean-Eric rolls his eyes, slipping the navy blue shirt on and wandering over to the mirror to check himself out.

“No point man, only here-FUCK! _Fuck_ ” Dan curses, standing up and shaking off his white shirt.

“What’s up?”

“Fucking drinks leaked!”

They inspect all of Dan’s clothes but they’re all wet. “Well, you can borrow this” Jean-Eric slips out of the navy shirt and tosses it to Dan and heads back over to the closet picking out the paler one.

“Why this one?” Dan frowns, sliding the shirt on, noting the strong scent of Jean-Eric’s expensive aftershave. It’s a little tighter on him than it had been on JEV but it fits fairly well.

“Suits you better” the Frenchman shrugs, pulling tight black boxer briefs up under his towel and dropping it in an easy fluid movement. He straightens up and regards his more fashionably challenged friend as he tries to do up his cuffs. “Come here” he mumbles something in French and takes Dan’s wrist, carefully fitting the button into the hole and taking his other hand to repeat the motion.  
Dan’s breath unexplainably catches as the Frenchman’s fingers accidently scrape the sensitive inside of his wrist and he stands dead still. He’s trying to look at the floor, offering JEV his other wrist, but his eyes keep trailing up his muscular legs, over his black cotton pants and to his hard defined abbs, a small trail of dark hair just below his belly button, leading down below his waistband. _Why is he noticing this?_  
  
“You’re helpless” he’s told by a husky accented voice as his collar is straightened, hot breath being breathed at his neck, making him shiver.

“I’m not!” He yelps far too quickly. _Idiot, he meant about the shirt!_ “Th-thanks” he stutters, shaking his head to pull himself together.

Three hours later they are at the club and they’re both drank way too much but mostly Dan is paraletic. He’s sat on a barstool watching Jean-Eric chat up a beautiful European woman. He can’t help but take some pride watching all the girls fall over his teammate. It’s funny watching them all try _sooo_ damn hard. Dan doesn’t even have to try. He just… gets Jean Eric’s attention. Not like those women. Jean-Eric loves the attention but Dan’s sure he cares very little for the woman.

Or the men. Because even men love JEV.

Dan is jealous of this girl. He can’t really explain it. But he thinks it because of how much she’s making Jean-Eric smile. How Jean-Eric’s ignored Dan ever since she appeared at the bar next to them.

Suddenly, finally, she gets brave and lurches forwards, her lips crashing against the frenchmans. JEV reacts cooly, his hand reaching up to her face, tucking around her neck and tilting her face to deepen the kiss.

Dan’s hand is squeezed tightly around his glass, so tight when he realises he lets go immediately for fear it will shatter.

“Another one. Double” he instructs the barman. Not that he needs another drink. He downs it, all the while his eyes are glued to the scene playing out in front of him. JEV’s hips thrusting gently into this woman’s neon yellow dress.  
“Please” he nods as the man behind the bar holds up the rum bottle again. Rum? Since when has he ever drunk rum?

JEV’s hand is sliding round this womans waist, clamping down on her bum, and he breaks the kiss, looking up, over her head. His eyes meet Dan’s  and he smiles at him briefly, shocking Dan as the lust is still there on his face.

Dan spins around on his chair quickly and rests his head down on the bar to stop himself staring. _Fuck this night_ , he's thinking.


	4. Monaco pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Content warning*

_‘JEV’s hand is sliding round this womans waist, clamping down on her bum, and he breaks the kiss, looking up, over her head. His eyes meet Dan’s  and he smiles at him briefly, shocking Dan as the lust is still there on his face._

_Dan spins around on his chair quickly and rests his head down on the bar to stop himself staring.’_

“Hey. You. Wake up”

He jumps violently and the next thing he know his face is colliding with the cold hard floor. The pain isn’t instant, it’s not until rough hands are grabbing his shoulders and pulling him up that the dull ache throbs across his jaw.

“Aye Daniel, the rum does not like you” JEV’s French accent sounds heavier than usual but his tone is affectionate. Not annoyed as it could be. _Should be._

Jean-Eric’s hands are firm on his shoulders as he says goodbye to the woman and thanks the doorman for getting them a cab before helping Dan in, laughing when the Australian bangs his head on the roof of the car and making light hearted jokes, at Dan’s expense, in French which the cab driver apparently speaks.

“Iiii’m.. ssorry” Dan is stuttering as Jean Eric helps him across the hotel lobby. His teammate props him up in the corner of the lift and wipes his forehead with the back of his hand.

“C’est bien” he laughs, ruffling his hair in mock patronising. “You really are the handful” the phrase doesn’t quite make sense as JEV says it and Dan can’t help but hear a dirty under-tone to it.

JEV wraps Dan’s arm over his shoulder and drags him down the hall to his room. On this occasion they have separate rooms but he thinks they'll be sharing as he might get in trouble if Dan chokes on his vomit.   
And of Corse he'd feel kinda guilty. And lonely, more so than he'd care to admit.   
   
"But that girlll, goddd I'm sorry she's gone?"  
   
Somehow, even with his head spinning Jean-Eric is able to prop himself and Dan up and get the key card out of his wallet and let them into his room.   
He lays Dan on the bed, pulling his shoes and socks off but before he has time to do anymore the Aussie is out like a light, snoring like a trooper.   
In his half wasted state JEV finds himself laughing. He pats Dan’s shin in an affectionate way and swings himself out onto the balcony and onto a deck chair, toeing off his own shoes and resting his feet up on the table.   
   
He pulls the small pack of Vogue cigarettes out of his pocket and sparks one up with a match, laying them down on the table and leaning back in the chair to smoke and look up at the map of stars painted across the foreign sky.   
   
It's a warm night and he drifts in and out of sleep, trying to type up on his blackberry a todo list. Wait fuck, why has he written Dan’s name after call his mum?  
He lights up one last smoke before heading in to see if there's somewhere for him to sleep. A chair. He's sure there's no couch but he can’t really remember. He's sure Dan will be taking up the whole bed.   
   
"Smokings bad for youuu"  
   
He startled by Dan’s voice, the tall Australian is leaning in the doorway, that familiar cheeky grin as ever on his face.   
   
"For me?" JEV repeats, teasing his teammate for slurring and not really making sense. “Just me?”  
   
"Yes... but for you it's also kind of sexy"  
   
He nearly chokes on the fruity smoke as he exhales out his mouth but raises his eyebrows and remains cool. "Is that so?" he takes a long toke and opens his mouth an inch, letting the smoke tumble out from between his lips in an intriguing way that has Dan staring.   
He stubs out the skinny cigarette and walks Dan back into their room.   
   
"I'm surprised to see you up" he chides, pulling out some tracksuit bottoms and tossing them at Dan whilst he himself strips down to his boxers. Stretching up lazily whilst regarding the single bed. It's rather generous for a one man but it's definitely not designed for two. His eyes then fall on the small, hard looking char beside the old fashioned tv and he can feel his back complaining just by looking at it.   
   
"I woke up an you'd gone"  
   
Dan’s got the shirt off and his jeans down to his ankles but his foots somehow got caught in the leg and he's toppling onto the bed. "Ahh"  
   
JEV can't help but laugh. Rolling his eyes but none the less strolling over to help his teammate. His unhooked Dan’s foot the leg hole and manages to rid him of his jeans. He can't stop his eyes from taking in Dan lying before him on the bed, all vulnerable and giggling and tanned naked limbs spread all over the place his white underpants leaving little to the imagination.   
He's about to try and change the subject when he notices Dan staring at his own pants and suddenly he's blushing hard. He recoils thoroughly embarrassed.   
   
"Dan! Désolé! I'm so sorry! I.. The girl.. I haven't.. In a whi-I'm so sorry!" the Frenchman is stuttering in horror as Dan’s eyes lift from his bulging pants.  "God, merde! Désolé!"  
   
But Dan says nothing, his suddenly intense gaze just boring into his teammates face, all hint of humour is gone and something about the older man seems.. new.  
   
JEV gulps, scared he seems different because he's angry but Dan’s next move takes him by utter surprise. He lurches forward, rolling up onto his knees and crashing his lips against his teammates sloppily and haphazardly.  
Jean-Eric is taken by surprise and pulls back quickly; trying to ignore the reaction the scratch of Dan’s stubble creates in the pit of his stomach.

“Whh..” he stutters in confusion but one of Dan’s hands is reaching around his neck and pulling him closer.

“It’s my fault.. That girl.. You had to leave because of me” Dan’s pulled his forehead down to rest on his and is visibly panting.

“But it’s okay-“

“No, let me make it up to you” and JEV’s about to tell him again not to worry when he feels Dan’s hand slide up his thigh and grab his crotch through his jeans, cupping his member and driving the horny Frenchman way past the point of protest, his head dropping back and a low growl escaping from his lips, spurring Dan on.

Dan’s not sure what he’s doing, acting on impulse. In his drunk mind it really doesn’t seem like a big deal. He gently presses Jean-Eric down onto his back on the bed and lays down beside him, watching the other mans laboured chest rise and fall in expectation as he undoes his belt and slides both his hands into his expensive looking trousers and those tight black underpants down, just low enough on his hip to reveal himself.

Seeing Jean-Eric is when he gets nervous. When he suddenly thinks _what am I doing?_ His hand is shaking as he reaches out and takes JEV cautiously, not sure entirely what he’s doing, not sure if it’s different  when you do it to someone else, but the little panting noises coming from his friend is telling him he’s doing alright.

“Oohh Dan” he whines in a heavy French voice, hands winding into the sheets beneath him.

“You like that?” Dan whispers, increasing his pace, noting how certain flicks of his wrist illicit certain moans and shifts from his partner.

“Oh _god”_ And JEV is coming and Dan has to force himself not to let go immediately, not to act phased by it. Jean-Eric lays still for a minute or two before opening his eyes and smiling at Dan. “You okay Daniel?” he teases, getting up and strolling to the bathroom. He obviously cleans himself and removes his jeans and shirt. “I guess you won’t mind us sharing the bed then?” and Dan can tell he’s mocking him a little as he just sits on the bed, confused.

“Er no man, whatever”

JEV smiles, sliding into the bed and curling up with his back to him. He reaches out, flicking the light off. “Thanks” he says quietly and Dan gets in next to him but is laying flat on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“Um, it’s okay” he shrugs.

He lays still for a long while, at first afraid to touch his teammate, but soon he can hear Jean-Eric’s breathing grow slow and heavier, affirming that he is asleep. Dan finally relaxes. He turns his back to JEV but it’s not his side, he can’t sleep on that side. So he rolls over. And that’s the _only_ reason why okay. The fact his body curves around the Frenchman’s perfectly is a total coincidence. His nose nuzzled into his caramel hair, inhaling his Ralph Lauren aftershave. Dan falls into the comfiest sleep ever.


	5. Monaco pt 3 (the aftermath)

Dan wakes up to the sound of the shower. His opens his eyes, squinting against the muted daylight filtering through the curtains that Jean-Eric has kindly left shut.  
As his vision adjusts he spots the blurred figure of his teammate in the shower, his arms stretched above his head, lathering shampoo into his hair.  
His eyes can’t help but flicker down his back and over his arse. Dan shakes his head blushing.

“Fuck” he grumbles, pushing himself up off the bed. “ _Fuck”_ he repeats, darting to the bathroom and dropping to his knees on the cool marble floor and getting his head over the toilet just in time to spill his guts down the pan.

“Oh man” Jean Eric steps out the shower, water splashing on the marble floor, and gives Dan a friendly smack on the back.

“Sorry” Dan splutters, gagging and throwing up again. He feels cold yet sweaty as he rests his forehead on the cool plastic seat, scrunching his eyes shut.

“It’s fine, I find people puking whilst I’m relaxing in the shower really adds something to it..” JEV teases, ever sarcastic, wandering out of the bathroom, breezy and carefree. He’d been drinking too, a lot. So why wasn’t he hungover? _Fresh as a daisy._

Groaning, Dan shuffles back away from the toilet, resting his back against the bath and looks into the bedroom. _JEV’s bedroom_. Even when they have separate rooms they end up together…  
His teammate drops his towel care-freely and pulls his pants up swiftly, yet not fast another to seem like he cares if Dan see’s. Dan just stares the whole time, completely oblivious that he’s been spotted, mouth slightly agape watching Jean-Eric’s back as the muscles ripple and disappear behind a thin cotton t-shirt.

He drops his head down to his hands, groaning, annoyed with himself for this hangover. For last night.

“Okay pal?”

He looks up at the sound of Jean-Eric’s voice to see the Frenchman frowning at him, wearing his t-shirt and boxers, hands on hips. _Damn, when did he become such an exhibitionist._ Actually, maybe he always was, it’s just only started bothering Dan now.

He can’t make eye contact, blushing profusely and his teammate picks up on this, strolling over and crouching down in front of him, obviously with the intention of making things better but with his crotch practically in Dan’s face it’s kind of having the adverse effect.

“You feeling really bad?” he asks softly, resting a hand on Dan’s knee.

“It’s not that!” Dan tries to shift away, still looking anywhere but at his teammate. “Last night..”

JEV gets up. “Hey don’t worry about it! You accidently drank too much, we had to leave early, you made it up to me, that’s it. I mean, I don’t think I’ll be in a rush to be bringing you out again but..” he chuckles, strolling back into his bedroom, so calm.

Dan relaxes his body, letting out a long breath he hadn’t realise he’d been holding. He closes his eyes, massaging his temples, trying to shift the headache that was settling, pressure behind his eyes

“I’ll order us some breakfast” Jean-Eric calls cheerily, but Dan’s hardly listening. He’s more frustrated with himself than his teammate could realise.   
So many times she’s shocked people by telling them he’s the elder of the Toro Rosso drivers. People’s jaws drop. Literally drop. It’s always annoyed him, but he brings it upon himself. He’s fallen into the little brother role and it’s beginning to bug him more and more. He loves a laugh and some fun but he needs people to take him seriously.  
Maybe he’s just letting the press get to him again. He keeps seeing himself referred to as the ‘joker’, or words to that effect. _‘Does either of them have what it takes?’_ And that constant reminder of how ruthless the team are if you don’t make the times they expect. Just looks at the previous drivers.. he wants to follow in Seb’s footsteps, not the theirs..

He shuts and locks the bathroom door and gets in the shower, trying to block his thoughts. He has a tendency to feel pretty depressed when he wakes with a hangover, so it’s probably nothing.

When he finally psyches himself up to leave the bathroom, Jean Eric has a big platter of fried and healthier breakfast options out on the table and a large jug of juice and pot of coffee. He slumped casually in a chair chewing on a croissant and checking his phone.

“Croissant? Too predictable” Dan tries to make a joke, tease his teammate, to cheer himself up.

“Huh?” JEV looks up.

“Just because you’re French doesn’t mean you have to eat the croissant” Dan repeats in more detail.

The Frenchman raises an eyebrow, taking another bite of the croissant. “Daniel you know us French, genius’s. The croissant is easily the best thing here” he gestures at the spread of food in front of him.

Dan rolls his eyes, strolling over to regard the food before them. He knows he should go for the healthy options, have some fruit of something, but bacon has never looked so appealing, he’s powerless.

“No way dude, croissants are so…” his voice trails off. He was gonna say.. gay… He’s still for a moment as a wave of heat flushes over him and he thinks for a moment he’s gonna be sick again, but then he realises he’s probably just embarrassed. He reaches out, taking the butter knife and begins spreading a piece of bread and laying rashers of streaky bacon.  
He jumps a mile when Jean-Eric’s hand rests on his shoulder, not even noting him getting up.

“Sorry-“

“It’s okay.”

Dan finishes his sandwich and sits down on the bed to eat it, deep in thought. JEV plucks a few grapes from the bunch, eating them slowly, thinking of what to say to Dan. That had been his last thought on going to bed and his first when he woke up in the morning. He could brush of last night as ‘nothing’ but for Dan, straight Dan who loved his girlfriend… it wasn’t nothing.

“Last night..” he begins carefully, noting Dan flinch, but he forces himself to continue. “It’s not a big deal right?”

Dan is cringing bad, dropping his sandwich down and screwing up his nose. “Y.. I’m not…I don’t usually-“

“I’ve done stuff with loads of straight men” Jean-Eric suddenly blurts out, because it’s the only thing he can think of to make Dan relax. It seems to work pretty good though, as Dan’s shoulders loosen he consideres this for a moment.

“Really?” he asks after a minute.

“Sure! Everyone gets curious or something from time to time”

Dan nods, clearly happy with this. “Well… I uess you were just lucky then” he grins cheekily, taking a big bite of his sandwich.

Jean-Eric grumbles something about ‘not likely’ and grabs a glass of juice.

 

And so that was that. The boys carried on as before. Even after this. And sure Dan’s thinking he needs to toughen up when it comes to his teammate as they are meant to be rivals, and Jean-Eric is wondering if he’ll be able to get Dan in bed again but for now, things are back to normal.


	6. Spain

“What about him?” JEV was dressed in a pale blue shirt with just one button too many undone, revealing a sexy smattering of hair across his tanned skin. He wore white jeans, _so French_ , and shoes that Dan feared they’d get mugged for if they walked down the wrong alley way home. Louis Vuitton he thought he’d said, but he wasn’t sure.

“Eugh really?” Dan swung on his bar stool, chewing the straw of his drink. Jean-Eric had finally agreed to take him out again (well more like Dan had finally been brave enough to come) and he was determined not to get too drunk this time and throw up/ need to be carried home /give a bloke head. He was going through a rough patch with his girlfriend and needed tonight.  
His eyes take in the guy in question. Tall, muscular, practically a skin head. Green eyes and an unwelcoming expression . Dan can’t hide the distaste from his voice. “No _way_ dude”

Jean-Eric bites his lip, regarding the man again and shrugs. “How about… that one” he nods at another big bloke, this one had tufty brown hair and a dark tan and looked like an afl player.

“Man I don’t think he’s gay”

“Oh he is”

“How can you tell?”

The Frenchman just grins, sipping his mojito in the sultry way he does when he’s on the prowl. “Pre-ripped jeans, designer shoes and shirt. He’s drinking cider rather than beer. He’s maybe in a bit of denial but I could soon work him out of that” he practically purrs, “I like a challenge. Besides, that girl, the blonde with the legs, she’s hardly the queen of subtle. She’s been on him all night. Most guys would jump at the chance to have a go on that..”

Dan’s feeling increasingly uncomfortable and tries to change the subject a little. “So your gaydar, have you like, always had it, or did you just wake up with it when you became gay?”

“My what?” JEV nearly chokes on his drink.

“ _Gaydar!_ It’s an official term!”

“Sure” he says sarcastically rolling his eyes and they’re both laughing now. “I don’t know, maybe a bit of both. I think it’s just obvious” he shrugs. “Him?” JEV points to a third guy, wriggling in his seat and batting his eyelashes when the guy looks over. The guy smiles but Dan doesn’t like the way he’s looking at his teammate. Like a piece of meat.

“You like big guys?” Dan observes, scowling at Mr Muscle, hoping to scare him off.

Jean-Eric shrugs. “I like to be taken care of. I don’t want to be in charge” his eyes linger on Dan momentarily. “I kind of find it a turn on, you know, being bossed around”

“You never do what I say” Dan huffs.

“Bebe, you jealous?” the Frenchman winks cheekily, squeezing Dan’s knee and clearly enjoying how awkward he’s making him.

“You sound more French when you’re drunk”

“You sound more… Australian. You sounds like.. like a kangaroo” JEV clearly thinks he’s being hilarious and nearly topples off his stool in fits of giggles. Dan doesn’t think the joke is even funny but he can’t help but smile.

“Weirdo” he rolls his eyes.

“No no no, je ne suis pas! Oh Dan, ma petit Dan” JEV is leaning now, resting his head briefly on Dan’s shoulder. “I think I’m bored of it here. It’s no fun. Shall we go somewhere else?”

“What about home?” Dan had hoped coming out would take his mind of his failing love life. Everything had been fine. He’d finally gotten into a long term relationship with a good girl and now it was all crumbling. He refused to admit it but it had been ever since that night, almost a month ago with JEV.

He didn’t think she knew or was even suspicious but he was having trouble living with the guilt. He was not even sure if it could be classed as cheating seeing as he hadn’t been doing it for his own pleasure, but deep down he was pretty sure it was.  
It wasn’t only that though. Since then his feeling for her had just seemed to… fade away. He didn’t get that same excitement as before when she logged onto Skype and when she’d suggested coming out to visit in a couple of races time his first reaction was to give her a list of reasons why this would be a bad idea and neither of them knew why.

“No! The night is young! Le nuit c’est jeune” JEV slides from his bar stool, slinking through the club and Dan can tell the Frenchman is much more drunk than he had thought. “Lets find a new club!” he calls from in front.

Jean-Eric does not find a new club. He finds a bar. A karaoke bar. Dan orders himself a pint of beer and a vodka and cranberry with extra cranberry and no vodka for his teammate.

“He won’t notice?” the woman behind the bar is young, probably only about Dan’s age although maybe a year or so older. She has thick dark hair braided at the side of her head. Her face is tanned with cat like eyeliner and small gold hooped earrings. She looks typically Spanish and is very pretty. _And busty._ Dan drags his eyes back up to her face, blushing.

He grins. “Just watch”

The two of them watch as the Frenchman happily sips his drink none the wiser, swinging on his bar stool and surveying the noisy pub.

“I think I can sing better than them, no?” he casts his eyes up at his aussie counterpart who’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He spends a moment listening to the almost painful noise coming from the small stage a few feet away from them.

“Perhaps” he shrugs, never having heard him sing before anyway so how could he know.

Daniel has to excuse himself to go to the loo and when he comes back, JEV has gone.

“Where is he?!” he panics and the barmaid laughs, reaching out to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and directing her glance up to the stage, leading Dans. JEV is leaning heavily on the microphone stand, two much older woman stand either side of him. They’re all singing although the woman are drowning out JEV who’s just grinning and despite Dan’s shock and immediate desire to go and grab his teammate he notices how happy he looks tonight.

That aside as soon as the song finishes he goes and fetches him. “I think it’s time to go now buddy” he laughs awkwardly, realising he’s now having to pretty much support the whole of the Frenchman’s weight.

“You need some help?” the barmaid is at his side, slinging Jean-Eric’s other arm across her slim shoulders and taking a surprising amount of his weight.

“Err thanks” Dan smiles.

“Jasmine” she grins at him and he’s struck again by her alarming beauty. She helps him get JEV outside and onto a bench before rushing back into the pub to get him some water and ring them a taxi.

“Do you want me to help? I can come with you?” she offers in perfect english, once they’ve slid the drunk into the back.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it” Dan shrugs, feeling uncomfortable by the kindness she’s offering and not wanting to burden her any further.

“You have to do this a lot?” she giggles and Dan makes a pfft noise, rolling his eyes, indicating that he does but without technically lying and they both laugh. “Hey I’ll give you my number, let me know when you get home okay? I’ll be worried” and Dan nearly drops his phone as he gets it out, clumsily dialling in her digits.

“See you later!” Dan says awkwardly, waving to her.

She laughs a little, rolling her eyes affectionately and waves back as he ducks into the cab and gives the driver their room.

“You’re not going to _see her later_ ” Jean-Eric grumbles, head back against the seat, eyes shut.

“I might” Dan shrugs, confused by the harsh spike in his teammates voice.

They get back to their hotel and its evident Jean-Eric is in a bad mood. Dan has to run to get in the lift as the doors start closing and his teammate seems to have no intention of holding them for him as he fiddles with his hair in the copper tinted mirror.

“Dude” he moans, hitting the 7 button with more force than necessary. “JEV!” he takes his teammates shoulder, turning him carefully round to face him. Dan thinks he can see misplaced sadness in his eyes but he’s sure he must be wrong.

“Vous avez aime cette fille?” he scowls and Dan sighs, picking out ‘like’ and ‘girl’ and piecing together the sentence as best he can he smiles awkwardly.

“Uh yeah, she seemed nice”

JEV rolled his eyes, marching from the lift as soon as the doors ping open.

“Go back. See her. Je vais bien” but he walks straight past their room, staggers and grabs the wall to steady himself, making Dan laugh and run after him, trying to lift him off the wall but it all back fires and Jean-Eric loses his balance, his weight totally shifting onto an un-expecting Dan who crumples under it. They both drop to the floor, Jean-Eric giggling at his teammates shocked expression as he falls and then Dan joining in.

“Dude that hurt” he laughs, swatting at Jean-Eric who’s still laid on top of him.

“Oh bebe, you want for me to kiss it better?” the Frenchman replies sarcastically but he’s not moving from on top of Dan, the full length of their bodies pressed together, his knee slipping between the Australians thighs. He props himself up on his hands and looks down at his teammate who’s still in fits of giggles below him. “What? Don’t laugh at me” he pouts down and Dan’s giggling slowly subsides into a smile, and then confusion, washing over his face and Jean-Eric can’t deny that he just looks so damn cute.

He watches him for a moment as his breathing regulates somewhat, although remaining deep and a little flustered.

“Hi” Dan breaths, his voice coming out breathy, husky. Far too provocatively.

“Salute” Jean-Eric smiles, and his arms are dipping, almost as if he’s doing a press up, but when he lowers himself, he doesn’t get back up, his lips finding his teammates, more willing than expected.

Dan’s mouth is soft, compliant. His kisses so very different from all his other actions, letting JEV lead him, show him, letting him explore. Jean-Eric is an expert kisser and he’s determined to make Dan feel what he’s feeling.

He gently scrapes his teeth across Dan’s bottom lip, making him shudder, whilst one of his hands slides into his dark hair, pulling ever so lightly, spreading the sensations up to his scalp, and down across his body, as he gently pushes his hips down against his teammates. He can feel Dan beneath him, feel him slowly grow harder, but before he has chance to act on this, Dan is pulling his face away, cheeks flushed pink, breathing heavy again.

“JEV you’re drunk” he pants, easing him up a little.

“No” he protests.

“Yeah you are, I’m not looking after you very well!” he laughs awkwardly, pushing Jean-Eric up and getting to his feet after. “Come on!”

His teammate is pouting, his hair and clothes a little ruffled and Dan’s not use to seeing him quite so.. free, and it’s making him nervous, and guilty at the same time.

“I thought.. you liked..”

“I did like it but that doesn’t matter, come on its late” Dan takes his hand and leads him to his room.

Jean-Eric changes in front of him and sits down on the bed, checking his phone, setting his alarm.

The air is thick with an awkward tension that Dan is desperate to get rid of. “I.. sorry” He mutters, not sure what to say.

“Okay” Jev doesn’t look up.

Without thinking Dan walks over to him, bending down, and kisses him hard on the lips, before hurrying out of his room and across the hall to his own.


	7. England

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A filler I just wrote to give some context to the next few chapters.

Dan grumbled to himself, shaking his head as he taps out a guilty text to his teammate, bailing out of their arrangements for a movie night. He knew JEV would be pissed but you just don’t say no when Helmut Marko asks to meet you. Not if you want to do stuff at Red Bull anyway.

He slides his phone into his back pocket, forgetting the situation for a moment and grabs his bag, off to the bar to meet Helmut.

The older man has found a secluded table in the corner of the bar. He’s swilling a small crystal glass around in his hand, watching the amber liquid as it moves inside.

“Daniel, hello” he says, finally looking up. “Take a seat! I won’t keep you long, I just had a spare few minutes and wanted to discuss something that had been on my mind”

Dan swallows hard as he takes the seat opposite him. He can’t help but feel nervous around the people he sees as ‘authority’. Maybe it’s a hang up from getting in trouble as a kid, or maybe it’s because he knows these men can end his career with a snap of their fingers.

“First I’d like to congratulate you on a great start to the season” he says, but something in his voice sounds insincere.

“Thank you..”

 

“You know, you’re showing real potential. Most of me says, yeah, he has a future, but..” he lets out a staged sigh. “It just seems you’re holding back. Like… you aren’t quite…doing it. I just don’t think it's possible for you to race your best when you're er.. so good friends with your teammate"  
   
Dan’s jaw drops, although he's not sure why. He kind of saw this coming. Helmut likes to keep them as competitive as possible.   
   
"See Ayrton and Alain, they drive their best, to the limit, because the rivalry was there!"  
   
"I do my be-" he tried to cut in but the Austrian was having none of it.   
   
"Sebastian Vettel didn't get where he is from rolling round hammered in hotel corridors with his teammates"  
   
That silenced Dan, having the effect it was intended to. Dan could feel his cheeks burning red and his heart almost stop with shock. How did he know that?!  
   
"I see it in you. Every so often. That spark. That pure talent that shone through with Seb. But he was working double the hours you two do. He won a race in your position!"  
   
Dan was still to embarrassed by the fact him and Jean-Eric had been seen the other weekend to point out that the car Seb had was a whole damn lot better than what they had this season. His jaw was clamped shut, mouth dry.   
   
"I wanna help you. Mark, let's be honest, probably only has one season left. It's a shame, he's a good driver. But red bull, number two behind Sebastian, it's just not the place for him anymore. Your ideal to replace him. I think. Christians not convince yet. He wants to hang on to him as long as possible, I think we can prove they're ready for a new Australian, no?"

Dan doesn’t get back to their room til much later that evening. By then Jean-Eric is dozing on his bed, tv on, newspapers open across his chest. Dan gets straight in the shower, to clear his mind, Helmut’s words echoing around his head. He can still hear him saying it. _"Sebastian Vettel didn't get where he is from rolling round hammered in hotel corridors with his teammates"_ and he could feel himself blushing again.

And that was all it took.

 

“You did it?” Franz looked over at his Austrian companion questioningly. 

 

  
Helmut takes a slow sip from his drink as a smile crinkles his face. “Yes. I know hwat you think, but it’s for the best”

Franz sighs, shaking his head ever so slightly, but refraining from disagreeing anymore. He wasn’t the advisor after all. He settles for another question that had been plagueing his mind. “Why Dan? Why not JEV? You really think he’s that much better?”

“No no!” he laughs immediately. “I don’t _know_ if he is better. I haven’t decided. No, Daniel’s just more… he’s more of a worrier. Jean-Eric, he’s far more..stubborn. If I tell him to do something, doesn’t mean he’s gonna do it. Dan is obedient. Much easier.”  
  
Franz lets out a sigh, but thinking about it, he kind of agrees. Jean-Eric is far more.. blasé. He’s polite and good-spirited but he can be defiant and stubborn. Dan is far more likely to.. suck up. “They’re not going to go and have arguments or something now?”

“No. Franz relax, you should be thanking me! Dan at least I think will be training harder. Hopefully Jean-Eric should follow, if he’s smart. And I think he is.

 

Dan slips out of the shower and notices he’s left his pyjamas in his case. He contemplates just nipping out to get them, but something stops him, so he dries himself quickly and pulls on his clothes again. In the room Jean-Eric is in bed now and the tv is off, Dan’s obviously woken him up. With a pang of guilt his picks up his pyjamas and heads back into the bathroom to change. JEV opens his eyes and watches his teammate shove his clothes in his case and plug his phone in to charge. He notcies he’s being watched and blushes, smiling awkwardly.

“Sorry” he whispers, even though Jean-Eric is wide awake.

“You were ages?” his teammate mumbles, a slight iciness in his voice.

“I know, sorry. We’ll rearrange” but his voice lack conviction and jean-Eric sighs and pulls his sheets up, rolling over, turning his back to Dan’s bed. “Bon nuit” he mumbles.

“Et toi” Dan replies guiltily. He doesn’t sleep easy that night. A small part of him wants to wake his teammate, tell him about everything Helmut Marko had said to him. But he knew he couldn’t. That it was bigger than their friendship. His career was bigger. F1 was bigger. Their friendship was just a by-product.

It was supposed to be anyway.


	8. Hungary

Jean-Eric groans, it’s a physical and mental strain to pull his aching body out of bed. His squinting eyes flick over to the alarm clock next to his bed. 12:37. He shouldn’t be surprised. The sun rose hours ago.  
He pads across to the hotel room door and yanks it open, not looking to see who it is, running a hand through his hair and sighing heavily.

“Alright mate?” Marks voice is cheery and pleasant. Too pleasant for Jean-Eric’s mood.

“Er, yeah” he mumbles, only now noting he’s only wearing a faded blue t shirt and faded burgundy underpants.

“I was just looking for Dan-“

“Haven’t seen him” he snaps, too quickly, cutting Mark off. He follows Marks gaze over his shoulder into the room, Dan’s unmade slept in bed, his case open on the floor by the French doors, clothes strewn haphazardly about his half of the room. But Jean-Eric isn’t lying. When he got in last night Dan still wasn’t back from the garage and by the time he’d woken up the this morning Dan was already up and out.

Mark frowns a little, not sure whether to get involved. “You two.. I mean, is everything-“

“Everything’s fine, is that all?” the Frenchman sighs, his mouth is dry and fuzzy and his head hurts. He hasn’t been drinking but he feels worse than if he had.

“Er, yeah mate” the confused Aussie replies. It’s not Marks fault, but that stupid accent just serves to remind him..

And JEV’s shutting the door before he’s even walked away. He wants more than anything to just get back into bed, and bury himself under the sheets and fall back to sleep. Better still, into Dan’s bed. He can imagine how that aftershave Dan thinks is really mature but actually just smells musty must linger on his sheets. Yeah, it would smell like him. It would be just like being cuddled up next to him…

But his logic kicks in and he forces himself into a scalding hot shower. He can hardly breath the steam is so thick and the extreme temperature is making him feel light headed and dizzy but he ignore it. He’d take light headed and dizzy over real emotions any day.

He gets out a few minutes later, when it really does get too much, and dries himself vigorously. He throws on old clothes, black sweats and a white tshirt and heads out for a run. It's the only half way productive thing he can think of doing to, managing. He's not needed in the garage today, which is a good thing because he's really not in the mood.   
He's hardly seen Dan. For weeks now. He's in the garage almost 24/7 putting in a ridiculous amount of overtime and really, what is he even doing in there? Because of there was things to be doing then Jean-Eric would know and would be doing them too.   
   
Dan had completely stopped making time for him. Usually once a week they'd make time to just get away and hang out, and when things were really busy they'd both just get an early night, but not really, because they'd put cartoons on (Dans choice) and lay in bed talking for hours, about the countries they were going to, things they wanted to do there. New foods. New training regimes. What they'd been up to last time they went home. But that hadn't happened for well over a month now. Dan was simply never around.   
   
His complaints were falling on deaf ears. Everytime he'd ask Dan if he wanted to do something, he'd get a generic 'I'd love to mate but I really can't. Sometime this week though yeah?' reply and that would be it. Brushed off until the next time he plucked up the courage and asked again.   
   
Jean-Eric let out a loud frustrated growl, balling his fists he slowed down, stopping and grabbing onto the back of a nearby bench with a grip that could almost tear through it. He wanted to punch something. Preferably Dan but right now anything would do.   
   
It isn't until he's been stopped for a minute that he realizes how out of breath his is. He can feel his legs, quivering beneath him as he now uses the bench more for support. He sucks in as much oxygen as he can but his lungs are burning. Man, he's been running flat out for over an hour. He hates running usually.   
   
He looks around, all of a suddenly panicking because fuck knows where he is.   
He drops down on the bench, still panting hard, and pulls out his phone to use the map.   
He notes a missed call from his trainer, and a voicemail reminding him that they haven't trained together in over a week and would be like to do some weights this afternoon.   
Jean-Eric's been avoiding him because she hasn't been in the mood, but this running has kept him numb for over an hour so now exercise seems like a good idea. He really shouldn't work out any further after this but...  
Her drops his trainer back a line, arranging a time to meet later, hopefully giving him the chance to find his way back to the paddock.   
   
It's dark when he Jean-Eric gets back from his official training. He'd pushed himself to the limit and every ounce of his body was now crying out in pain, but he was happy because it was stealing the vast majority of his brains attention.   
He had intended to get straight in the shower for a third time as soon as he was back at the apartment but after sitting down on the bed to take his shoes off, he'd found it far to comfy to get up again, and within minutes he was flat out, snoring like a baby.   
   
He doesn't wake when the door opens, but as Dan begins fussing around He slowly begins to regain consciousness.   
Dan shuffles in. Jean-Eric is laying across his bed, legs hanging off the end, sheet draped half across him. The curtains are only half drawn he's still fully clothed.   
   
Dan watches him for a moment, as he stirs, gently waking, quietly groaning. It’s a mesmerizing sight and he can’t pull his eyes away. Jean-Eric blinks, once, twice, his eyes finally focusing on his teammate. He scowls and Dan blushes and feels the need to say something.  
   
"You stink you know" he teases, toeing off his shoes and shrugging out of his jacket, dropping them both casually on the floor by his case.   
   
"Huh?" the Frenchman mumbles, running a hand threw his hair.   
   
"You stink man!" Dan repeats, chuckling to himself, pulling a towel off the rack to shower himself. "Didn't you shower?"  
   
"Oh, no" Jean-Eric mutters, still half asleep he pushes himself up onto his elbows. Dan smiles, he looks so cute, eyes half closed, squinting, face screwed up. "Well you can go after me" he tells him, making sure to crack open a window.   
   
Jean-Eric's whole body is protesting as he forces it stiffly up. "I could just er.. jump in with you?"   
   
Dan swallows loudly, forcing a smile he shakes his head. "I'll be five minutes!" he adds quickly hurrying into the bathroom to hide.   
He slams the shower on, squealing as the painfully hot water scolds his skin, he quickly turns the heat down before dropping onto the bench under the jets.   
He rests his head in his hands. He's exhausted. He's had such a long day. Long few days. It was over 12 hours ago he'd left their room this morning.   
His mind wasn’t even working now. It was frazzled by new information. With names of new people. Statistics. Numbers and sums and ideas.. He was physically and mentally drained.   
   
He showers fast, rubbing orange flavoured shower gel into his scalp and letting it run down his body. It’s a pet hate of Jean-Eric’s. His washing his hair with shower gel. The Frenchman uses shampoo and conditioner always. Dan doesn’t even understand what the point in conditioner is.  
He steps out and roughly dries himself with a towel but its hot in the hotel room so he doesn’t both too much, pulling on his shorts and vest and heading back into the bedroom.  
  
"Showers free" he calls when JEV doesn't even acknowledge him. His teammate gets up and disappears into the bathroom. Dan’s asleep when he gets out. Another day, and hardly a word exchanged between the two of them.


	9. Belgium

It had been raining on off in Belgium since they had landed yesterday so Dan had been holed up in the gym whilst the team look at the car in regards to the impending weather.  
Despite it being winter in his home country it he’d had a warm summer break and wasn’t looking forward to getting outside.

He’d been busy all summer, catching up with friends and family. He’d got to a few concerts and a few amateur karting races, done some shopping and gone out on his jet ski. It had been a lot of fun and he really felt like he’d shifted this awful stress that was weighing him down.

_“How’s Jean-Eric?”_

That was all his mother had said. All she’d had to say for his good mood and clear mind to evapourate. His mum loved his teammate and she always asked after him. She encouraged their friendship, but she didn’t know the half of it. Couldn’t begin to understand how complicated it had become in the last few months.

 _“Fine!”_ had comes Dan’s strangled, high-pitched reply, earning a funny look.

He’d felt nerves twisting in his stomach and that worried him. When had the mention of his friends name started to give him this reaction? They had to sort it out. It was crazy.  
He’d thought, that night after he’d kissed Jean-Eric for the second time, that he should tell him they were just friends. But it sounded so… self-righteous. Well, that’s what he’d lead himself to believe. He’d also been worried about how broaching that topic might affect their friendship. He know what JEV was like. If you annoyed him, if he didn’t like you, that was it. He’d happily ignore you for the rest of his life. He had no time for people he didn’t care about.

Imagine if Dan became one of those people? If their relationship became like Mark and Sebastian’s.. Mark had warned him about that.

_“You’re a bright and talented kid. I can see how determined you are, and you’ll go far I’m sure. But don’t let racing take over everything else. Remember those around you”_

It had been a strange, off-hand comment. He wasn’t sure if it had come from Marks own experience, from Mark’s observing Dan specifically, or if it had just been a piece of advice, nothing more. But it had stuck with him. When JEV had got stroppy about his bailing on him.

  
  
"Err.. what time will we get off?" Dan feels guilty asking his trainer as he looks down at the text from JEV.   
  
_'Food tonight? xo'_  
   
"Well we've got our usual training routine, then you wanted to do weights and then I've got that guy in to have a look at your shoulder.. You'll probably wanna eat before then.. 8?"  
   
Dan sighs. He could get back and showered by 9..  
   
"Remember you've got that press call to Aus at half 9 too" his trainer adds, programming the treadmill.   
   
"Oh yeah" Dan mumbles.   
   
"Come on then! Put that away!"  
   
 _'Sorry can't'_ he manages to tap out quickly before handing over his pone.   
   
When he gets in at 8:30 to an empty apartment. He showers quickly and pulls on his Parkway Tshirt and some black shorts and hurries don’t to the conference room they’ve booked from him to do his press call. He has a de-briefing first and is handed notes and quotes to drop into conversations.   
He’s trying to read through them all quickly, trying to memorize what they all say, wishing things were still simple like when he started racing and as long as he didn’t swear or dis the sponsors he was fine..

The call is long and boring and once again his teammate is asleep and snoring softly by the time he gets up stairs.  
He changes and cleans his teeth and gets into the small single bed, only a foot away from his teammates.

He lays on his back, staring at the ceiling for a long time. It’s been nearly two months. They hardly even spoke over summer. And now, today, already he’d let JEV down already.  
Dan can’t get comfortable, pushing the quilt off him as he’s sweating but the cool air of the room soon chills his skin and he has to pull it back over himself.

He notes that Jean-Eric has fallen silent and wonders if he’s awake. After a few minutes of mental debate he finally whispers.

“JEV?”…

There’s a long silence.

“Mmm” comes a delayed, muffled response from the next bed. He’s not sure what he wants to say. A small part of him wants to tell him to grow up, to realise it’s business, not personal. Mostly though, he just wants to say something to make everything go back to how it was. Make his teammate forgive him.

“I’m sorry” he finally replies, but Jean-Eric’s soft breathing has grown louder and he doesn’t respond and Dan’s not sure if it’s because he’s drifted back off to sleep or whether he’s simply not interested in his apology.

It’s been such a long day, even as he contemplates whether to wake Jean-Eric up again to make sure he’s heard he’s drifting off into uneasy sleep.

  
Dan’s awoken early in the morning by the tv blaring French news. Jean-Eric is stood in front of the screen in just his boxers, hand on hip. He swears at the tv, throwing his hands in the air and shaking his head and dragging himself away. His glance drops down to Dan momentarily but he says nothing, taking fresh jeans and a pressed shirt out of the wardrobe and heading into the loo to change.  
He emerges fifteen minutes later, looking impeccable as always, his hair pushed away from his face, looking lighter after against his tan skin, the sun has treated him well. His dark eyes are bright but he looks tired, adjusting his team shirt, giving Dan a quick flash of flesh above the waistband of his jeans as he does so.  
Dan swallows loudly, and forces himself up into a sitting position. He knows her should get up and get ready but he’s exhausted. He leans back against the wall, running a hand threw his hair.

“Are you in the sim today?” it’s the only thing he can think to say, he knows how stupid it is before it even leaves his lips but he can’t stop himself.

Jean-Eric laughs humourlessly, shaking his head faintly as he pulls a bottle of water from their mini fridge. “Oui” he mutters.

“You think it’s gonna rain Sunday?”

“That’s three days away. I do not know”

“It doesn’t look like stop-“

“Daniel” Jean-Eric finally stood straight, looking Dan straight in the face, with a hard expression Dan isn’t use to, his emotions unreadable. “Spare me the small talk”

He’s shocked at first but he’d seen it coming. “JEV?”

“I don’t give a shit about the weather. There is nothing we can do either way”

“Thats not the point-“

“Then what is the point Daniel? What is the point in us keeping up this façade? Maybe to the press, to the team, but when it’s just us two, why pretend everything’s the same?” and although his face stays impassive he can’t keep the emotion out of his voice.

“It is the same!” Dan’s voice surpirses him as he shouts at his teammate, standing up off the bed now.

“It’s not!”

“Well if it’s not it’s because of you! We have jobs! It’s not my fault I’m busy! I don’t know why you’ve got this attitude-“

“Attitude! Non, tu es absurd! You, you have the attitude, you think you’re so much better than me now! Like you’re too good to talk to me! Since people started talking about how good you are you’ve changed”

“Bullshit, the only one that’s changed is you, you are creating this problem, if you just acted normal we would be fine. I’m sick of it” Dan storms across the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door, a loud growl escaping from his throat as he slams the lock shut. Where had that come from?  
He swallowed hard, balling his fists and closing his eyes, catching his breath. Jean-Eric was his teammate. More than that, _his friend_. And they may not be actual best friends, but they he was the one person who was supposed to understand.   
He’d always assumed Jean-Eric would be happy for him if he had success. Was the he jealous?

Dan stripped off, flicking the taps on and wetting his flannel, furiously scrubbing his face, so he couldn’t breathe, so it hurt.

 _What the hell was going on?_  
  
He washed his top half with the flannel and shut off the taps just in time to hear the door to the room slam shut.


	10. Korea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a filler but pay attention! :p

“You alright Daniel?”

“What? Yeah, sure” the Australian mutters, not looking up from the spread of graphs in front of him.

“You know it’s nearly dark. You should get back-“

“In a minute”

Dan’s physio shakes his head but gives up. He’d felt lucky working with Dan at the start of the season but it was becoming harder and harder as the year wore on. He didn’t blame Dan. The guy didn’t have a bad bone in his body. He was just stressed and over-worked. But it was a notable change.

On his way out of the garage, 2 hours later than he was meant to clock off, his training session with the driver apparently cancelled, he bumps into Mark, the other Australian driver, and something of an occasional big brother to the rookie.

“He’s not still in there?” Mark raises his eyebrow.

“’Fraid so. Can you talk to him?”

Mark shrugs his broad shoulders and lets out a wary sigh. “nothing you say to that kid gets through. He can’t listen. I’d love to know what goes on in that brain of his..”

“Well, he doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere soon so..”

“I’ll go check he’s okay”

He only agrees because of the worry on his physio’s face. He’s tried speaking to Dan before, but the boys got it in his mind..

Mark strolls into the garage, expecting Dan to look up, but the youngster is so busy jotting down notes in his pad he doesn’t hear his heavy footsteps or notice the shadow he throws across the desk.  
He has to clear his throat to get his attention, accidently making Daniel jump.

“Shit! I didn’t see you there!”

“You’re busy?”

“Stupid grid penalty, starting 21” he grumbles. “Had to re-think our whole strategy..”

“You’ll be no good to anyone if you stay in here all night”

Dan sighs heavily and leans back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment. “I was gonna get an early night, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.”

“You’ll be fine from 21st, your car is better than most of the back runners to say the least”

“Trying not to boost my ego?”

He gathers up the papers and shoves them into his backpack, following his compatriot reluctantly out of the garage and across the nearly empty paddock across to the hotel.

“Don’t let yourself get stressed, okay?” mark holds Dan’s gaze as he pat’s him on the back, making him promise, before the younger driver dips into his room. He hopes someone can get through to him before he burns out, because that’s what’s at risk of happening.  
He has half a mind to talk to Helmut about it, someone Dan might listen to. But he’s almost certain that would prove futile, the Red Bull scout see’s something in Dan. Possibly what he say in Sebastian, if it’s that simple. But Dan needs to be mentally strong if he has a future, and they’re expected to learn the hard way.

Jean-Eric had stayed an extra hour in the garage post qualifying. The car had looked strong and his position, it’s not amazing, but it’s not so far off the points.  
He’d felt guilty keeping the team any longer than necessary though, they had just as long a day ahead of them as he did.   
So he’d got back to his room, after press, about 8, had a shower and skyped his parents (his mum always worried when he was off the continent) was getting an early-ish night.

He had a Korean sitcom on the telly, the volume turned down low, and was scrolling through his emails, in bed. He hadn’t expected to see Dan before he fell asleep, so often he didn’t these days, so was surprised when his tired looking teammate shuffles in.

“Hey” Dan mutters, toeing off his trainers and dropping his hat down on the desk.

“Hi” Jean-Eric replies softly, watching his teammate up-turning varies items before finally locating his charger, and coming over to the bedside to plug it in.

“You alright?”

“Oui.”

“Well done in qualifying, you looked strong” he mutters, tapping out a couple of texts on his phone, sat on the edge of his bed, back to JEV.

“Merci” the Frenchman replies, deciding against mentions Dan’s slightly disastrous qualifying. He didn’t feel comfy starting ahead of Dan even though he’d been out-qualified, but what could he do.

“What’ve you been up to?”

Jean-Eric bites his bottom lip, suppressing a heavy sigh as he listens to Dan roll off his generic questions he goes through every race weekend these days.

“I Skyped my mum”

“How is she?”

“Good.”  There’s a long silence as Dan keeps texting, running out of questions. “Is Grace alright?”

Dan’s thumbs still on the screen of his phone and Jean-Eric can see a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He puts his phone on his bedside table and turns to look at him.

“Grace is well” he can’t stop a grin.

“Good.”

Suddenly the atmosphere becomes intense and Jean-Eric has got his teammates attention for the first time in nearly a month and all the things he’s wanted to say to him have just evaded him.  
He notes for the first time the deep worry lines that have recently appeared across his forehead and his usually bright eyes just look tired. But that cheeky, geeky, childish grin, that’s the same.

“Are you alright?” and the Frenchman can feel himself blushing at the huskiness of his voice.

Dan swallows hard, his smile faltering. “Yeah. I mean, the grid penalty-“

“No. You. Are you okay?”

“I.. I’m figuring it out. I will be.”

JEV wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense in to him. To tell him that it didn’t have to be like this. But Dan just looked so worn out… that sleepy, lopsided grin on his face. The last thing he needed was his teammate going for him. So he buried his feelings, and gave him the warmest smile he could manage.

“Well, you can always talk to me. I… I’m still here”

“Thanks man” and although Dan’s eyes were kinda closing as he said it, the appreciation was clear.


	11. Brazil pt.1

Jean-Eric’s side of the garage was loud with cheers and laughter as the Frenchman came back to his team.

“8th! 4 points!” Someone yells as he’s crowded from every side. The next few hours are a buzz and a blur as Jean-Eric is whipped from interview to photograph to television crew. He’s ringing his mum, shouting over the crowds, telling her he was safe and well and happy. Then he’s driven back to the hotel, given a tshirt to change into with the correct sponsors names in the correct places and sent down to a conference room which is already buzzing with press, the flashes of camera’s momentarily blinding him as he steps up onto the stage, spotting a melancholy Dan already there behind the counter, adjusting his mic.

“Hi” he smiles, forgetting any frustration he’d been feeling recently towards his teammate and holding out his hand. Dan takes it, shaking it firmly, forcing a smile JEV knows is fake.

“Hey well done!” the Australian beams. “8th!”

“Yeah, you did well too” Jean-Eric says without really thinking, regretting it instantly as the smile falters and slips from his teammates face.

He’s saved from anymore awkward exchanges as Franz appears next to them on the stage and discusses answers with them quickly as someone counts them down to the beginning of the conference.

Jean-Eric hardly gets a moment to breath when he’s lead out of the conference into a small side room and given phone after phone, each with an individual prompt sheet of things to tell the sponsors.

It’s eerily silent when his hotel room door slams shut early that evening. The noise of the day is ringing in his ears still and he just stands there for a moment, staring into space.

“Merde” he curses, shaking his head with a forlorn smile, he drops his bag and gets straight in the shower.  
His mind is blank as he rubs orange shampoo through his hair, greasy with sweat. It remains blank as he conditions and washes the rest of himself. He steps out a while later, drying his hair and body, but he doesn’t bother to dress straight away, dropping down onto the bed, spread out naked, he finally closes his eyes.  
The last race of the season, finished, and Brazil where he’s, for only the second time this season got his own room. A double bed. With a view over the track.  
The sheets are soft beneath his damp skin, and the mattress is unbelievably comfy, bending under his weight and supporting him.

He reaches over to silence his phone which is flashing and vibrating on the desk, switching it off without even checking, only pausing to clock the time. 6:51. The function starts at 9, but he reckons he can get a couple of hours sleep and turn up ‘fashionable late’. So that’s what he does.

Loud ringing of his alarm wake him with a start and he feels stiff and achy and his eyes are heavy and the last thing he feels like doing is getting up and going out to party. And then it hits him again. The season is over.

He shakes his head, no, it hasn’t sunk in yet. That he’ll be going home after this. To his family and friends. Away from Daniel..

Fuck. He doesn’t want to be away from Dan, but at the same time, he totally does. The Australian is driving him crazy and maybe it is for the best.

He mumbles to himself as he flicks through his shirt selection, picking out a purple one, a little different, why not? And fines some smart, dark grey jeans and black laced shoes. His hair takes the longest to do, to make it look done, and then undone again. Lastly he sprays a thick mist of cologne across his body and the surrounding air, holding his breath as he does, and stepping through it. With one last check in the mirror, he’s switching his phone on, and hurrying out.

9:46. He’s later to the party than he’d intended but the majority of his garage don’t appear to mind, greeting him in over-friendly manners, all at varying degrees of drunkenness, all trying to get him to join them. He has ‘official’ stuff to do first, chatting to the team principle and to Marko, but most of that will be done in the factory next week so he’s soon able to join the boys in drinking.

“Long Island..”

“Ice Tea. It’s just a cocktail, here” he’s told as a second cocktail is thrust at him before he’s even swallowed the last gulp of his mojito. He’s a wine drinker, so maybe the tequila is a bad idea too but it’s too late to worry about that now.

Even as the drinks are pouring, burning down his throat and warming his belly, his mind is wandering. He hasn’t seen Dan yet. Where’s Dan?  
He keeps trying to force the thought to the back of his mind but he can’t. The image of Dan’s face in the press conference after the race… Dan had come 13th, a position he wouldn’t of been happy with. Not in the last race of the season. He’d been so geared up, worked so hard. To be beaten by five places by his teammate..

JEV knows that’s the problem. Him actually feeling guilty for beating him by so much. Worried of hurting him. That’s the reason why Dan has been distancing himself. Not only for his own good, but for Jean-Eric’s as well, but that didn’t matter then. The season was over, so nothing mattered, for a few weeks anyway.

So he found himself in the lift, heading back up to the top floor, and across to Dan’s room, his head swimming but his mind focused.

He hesitates for a moment before knocking. Should he think of something to say first? What if Dan doesn’t want to speak to him? Shuts the door in his face.. but his alcohol intoxicated brain isn’t processing a wholly coherent thought pattern and Jean-Eric’s hand seems to take a life of its own, reaching up and tapping softly on his friends door.

Dan really looks surprised to see him, his eyes widening visibly.

“Wh.. what’re you doing here?”

“Cheers buddy!” JEV teases, smiling friendlily.

“Sorry!” Dan corrects quickly, blushing slightly and stepping back from the door flustered, a motion meant to welcome his teammate in. “Come in!” he adds, as if it’s not obvious, and Jean-Eric realises Dan’s been on the drinks too. The Aussie’s only wearing a vest and boxers, but JEV can see his smart clothes crumbles on a chair in the corner.

“You came to the party?”

“Sure! But I only stayed about an hour. Not in the mood I guess” he shrugs, flicking on the tv and tossing JEV the remote, he opens the mini bar and plucking them each out a bear and wanders over, dropping down on to the bed.

JEV finds a Brazilian sitcom, it’s kind of an inside joke of theirs, watching all the foreign sitcoms, trying to recognise people from the year before, and slides onto the large double bed next to him, leaning his back against the wall and taking the beer, a long swig cooling him down where he was starting to get a little hot under the collar, his palms a little clammy.

“You know, we are both back next year. That’s kind of a result, no?”

“Yeah, what were the chances of that” Dan laughs, but it’s obvious his minds elsewhere.

“You mustn’t be so hard on yourself”

Dan doesn’t answer immediately, biting his lip rather than simply countering the annoying statement or telling his teammate he didn’t understand. Surely he did, they were in the exact same position really? But Jean-Eric really didn’t seem to understand.

“I let everybody down JEV. It was the last race. The car was strong. I should have delivered more”

“But you didn’t, and it’s over now. So..”

“So what?” Dan asks, now eyeing his teammate.

“That’s the past. What about now?” the Frenchman returns the look, his chocolate eyes are giving nothing away but the small twitch at the corner of his mouth makes an otherwise innocent conversation.. _cheeky_.

Dan gulps loudly, almost choking on his own saliva as a thought rushes his brain, sending a rush of blood straight down to his groins. He shifts uncomfortable, his eyes falling to the soft lips in front of him, as his body remembers what they felt like, and suddenly he can feel goosebumps scatter across his cool skin and he can hear his heart beating, hear the blood pounding in his ears.

Jean-Eric turns away, much to Dan’s disappointment. Maybe he imagined it? The flicker of a smile? The subtle undercurrent to his voice. Maybe it was so subtle, it simply wasn’t here. Or maybe he didn’t even know the signs he was giving off.

But this was Jean-Eric, and the Frenchman was nothing if not self-aware. He knew what he did to the people around him. He knew how he could affect them.

This was Jean-Eric, his teammate and friend.

This was Jean-Eric, the first boy he’d ever kissed. Was kissing. Right now...


	12. Brazil (pt. 2)

Jean-Eric, the first boy he’d ever kissed. Was kissing. Right now. He had rolled onto him, taking the Frenchmans face, and pulling it to his own, forcing their lips together, his tongue into his mouth, wasting no time, his hands were winding into the startled frenchman’s hair which was soft and long enough to get a good handle of..

“What’re you doing?” Jean-Eric pants, forcing himself to break the kiss and look into his teammates eyes, trying to gage what he was thinking.

“Kissing you” Dan simply smiles, pecking the confused man who was laying beneath him on the lips, watching his chest rising and falling fast. His cheeks are flushed pink, his hair all scruffed up and that was it, the look. The same one he’d had in the hotel corridor. Free of inhibitions. It turned Dan on like crazy and instinct took over, as he bit JEV’s lip, making him growl, spurring him on, he began running one of his hands down his teammates stomach, finding the hem of his t-shirt and sliding underneath, feeling the warm soft skin of his stomach and the soft smattering of hair leading him to his belt.  
With his thumb he traced small circles in the hollow above Jean-Erics hip bone, making his hips buck up to meet his, a small whimper escaping his lips.

“You like that?” Dan startles himself, not expecting his voice to come out so husky and sultry and so unlike him.

“Oh oui” JEV pants, pulling him back down into the kiss, their tongues battling for dominance, Dan with a new found confidence he hadn’t had with Jean-Eric before. His fingers began tracing their circles lower and lower, until they began dipping underneath the top of his trousers and the elastic of his boxers.  
Every little touch of his hands enticed a unique reaction from JEV, small squeaks, low groans, gentle flexes of his legs and thrusts of his hips.  
Dan’s not used to having this effect over someone, and a small part of him is enjoying having Jean-Eric at the tip of his fingers, so vulnerable.

His hand finally delves past the waistband of Jean-Eric’s boxers, finding him ready he still teases for a few moments before pulling out and undoing his belt.  
They undress each other in a frenzy, switching between coyness and lust, fingers and lips exploring skin they know so well and yet not at all.

For the second time Jean-Eric finds himself pulling back, his mind swimming, a mixture of alcohol and Dan giving no rational thoughts a chance to slip through, to question his teammates thought pattern. “Dan.. what’re we.. because I can’t.. do you..”

Dan laughs nervously above him, his heavy eyelashes flutter as he blinks, his cheeks a little red. “It’s okay. I’ve got to sooner or later right?”

Jean-Eric’s not sure, but he thinks he’s referring to fucking a man. _‘Got to sooner or later’_. Only Dan would see it like that.

“Besides, it’s you, so I know it will be good. I trust you”

And that’s the last thing he hears as he begins kissing Dan again, one hand finding his erection, the other hand guiding his to prepare himself. As much as he’d like to take Dan, show him what he can do, pleasure him completely, he also realises they must go slow, he doesn’t want to scare him off or hurt him or ruin their chances of doing this again.

Dan remembers what he said before. About how he likes being controlled in the bedroom, over-powered, and he wants to do this but his hands are shaking so much as he fumbled with the condom, dropping it on his partner, who picked it up, sliding it on for him.

Dan’s nerves are evident, Jean-Eric talks him through it, soothing words, spurring him on, telling him how much he wants him, needs him, and Dan soon catches on. Adjusting to the new sensation, the drinks he’d had earlier clouding any awkwardness he may have otherwise felt he begins to pick up on what Jean-Eric likes. Certain turns of his hips have the Frenchman call out a string of French Dan cannot possible understand yet at the same time he kind of does.  
Dan’s embarrassed when he starts to feel himself lose control after only a ten or so minutes but Jean-Eric keeps up his trail of french, his voice unraveling, his body twitching and going limp as Dan colapses on top of him, burying an instinctive kiss into the frenchmans long hair, closing his eyes and letting the frenchmans scent washing over him. All his senses seem heightened, overwhelming him, but his muscles feel loose and he can't bring himself to move, simply lifting his hips to slide out of his friend, tying the condom and tossing it in the bin and settling back down again, half on top of his teammate who was snoring softly.  
He closed his eyes, his mind racing but he tried to ignore it. _You like him, you know you do._ No. Thats not an option. He just did it to feel better right..

 

Morning comes quicker than either of them are ready for. The sun is hot, blazing through the half drawn curtains. The sound of the track below is seeping in through and open window, more than a hundred people down trackside, packing away, noisy Lorries pulling out of the car park, towing large trailers, people shouting and fussing and panicking.

These sounds reach the two drivers as they are woken by Dan’s alarm on his phone at 8. A maid is outside their room arguing in Spanish with a man and they can hear the loud roar of a shower from next door.

“Quelle heure ici?” Jean-Eric clutches his throbbing head as he tries to sit up but a wave of sickness consumes him and he relaxes back down again, closing his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. Dan however is forcing his aching body out of bed.

“Eight. I’ve got to go meet people before my flight. When do you fly?” he asks, his voice is croaky but he seems far too alive for Jean-Eric’s liking.

“Err.. five. I think” he grumbles, squinting at his teammate.

“Oh mines at 2” Dan says before disappearing into the bathroom, towel slung over his shoulder and a change of clothes in his hand.

Jean-Eric’s eyelids fall shut and he dozes back off while his Dan showers, only waking up when he comes back in and begins packing up his stuff.

“Are you gonna stay here?” he asks a few minutes later when he’s all packed up and got his stuff ready for the day and is ready to leave.

It takes a few minutes for the Frenchman to process what he means, then he remembers he’s in his room. “Si’vous plait. I’ll go back to my room in a bit”

There’s a pause, and Jean-Eric peaks through one of his eyes.

“Well I’ll be back to get my bag about half 12 and er.. I might not be alone, so..”

“…I’ll be gone” the Frenchman finishes.

“Okay. Right. Great. Catch ya later then!” Dan beams, shaking off the awkwardness and hurrying out the room.

Jean-Eric lays back down and closes his eyes, willing himself back to sleep but he can’t. He can feel that warmth of anxiety gnawing at his insides and as much as tries he cannot ignore it.  
He finally forces himself into a sitting position, resting heavily against the wall and taking a few deep breaths to keep the nausea at bay.  
He runs a hand through his hair and reaches over for his phone.

‘ _When will I catch you? Xo’_

He taps out a quick text to Dan, hoping the reply will set him at ease but it doesn’t.

_‘I dunno mate, sorry. Will be super busy! Back next season though ;)’_

Jean-Eric sits up for really now and hits the dial button, his heart in his throat. It rings three times before Dan answers. There’s a lot of rustling and he can hear loud voices in the back ground until it goes quiet.

“JEV I’m busy what is it?” Dan says in a hushed tone.  
“Dan you..” Jean-Eric didn’t even know what to say. He thought back to last night, to the feel of Dan’s skin over his, his hot mouth on his neck, his hands exploring his body.. he could feel himself blushing at the thought, his pulse picking up. “You just took off this morning” he realised as he said it Dan was the first person to sneak out of his bed in the morning in a long long time. That was something he did, not something that was done to him.  
“Yeah I told you I have things to do. You probably do as well”  
“When can I see you?”  
Dan lets out a long sigh, delaying his answer. “Lets just stick to the plan ok.. I’ll see you at the garage next month and then..”  
“So that’s it?” Jev’s throat tightens as he says it and he cringes, hoping Dan doesn’t pick up on this.  
“Err, I guess so” Dan says softly. “Nothing has to change-“  
“No you can just use me when you’re depressed! Doesn’t matter how I feel, no?”  
“JEV I’m sorry-“

Jean-Eric slams the disconnect button and throws his phone down on the bed, growling in frustration. What has he done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is probably only 2 (maybe 3) more chapters left in this. I'd love to hear any feedback/ creative critisism anyone has? :)


	13. Testing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know dates or articles are a little off but just pretend you havent noticed, k ;)

_‘RED BULL wannabe Daniel Ricciardo is aiming to “blow apart” his Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne this season’_

_‘There's never been a moment which has separated the friendship - it's just grown apart with competition. I think it's good that we keep our distance’ – Daniel Ricciardo_

_‘I imagine we're probably like most other team-mates. We don't really talk away from the track. We're just doing our own thing. I think it's how it should be as well.’ – Daniel Ricciardo_

 

_‘Jean-Eric Vergne says he and Daniel Ricciardo are not friends due to competition’_

 

“Why did you say that?”

Jean-Eric looked better than he’d looked in a while. Franz had been relieved to see him. He looked well rested and fresh. His eyes were bright with determination but he seemed relaxed too. More relaxed than he’d seemed for a long time, his manager assumed due to the time of year. It was the start of the season, anything could happen.

Dan’s face had hardened seeing his teammate waltz into the garage, twenty minutes late, chatting away on his phone, giving a nod and wave to a few of his mechanics.

“Say what?” the frenchman shrugged, taking a bite from his apple and sitting down on a wall out back of the garage.

“That we’re no longer friends”

“Oh that” he nods, as if he genuinely had no idea, sliding his phone out of his pocket and taking another bite of his apple. “Well it’s true, is it not?”

“No! Of corse we’re still friends-“

“If I haven’t seen you for nearly three months I hardly see us as friends” Jean-Eric snaps, standing up, tossing his apple core in the bin and heading back towards the factory.

“Even if you felt that way, you should of come to me, not told the press-“ Dan hurries after him, hoping to clear the air and get the apology he feels he deserves.

JEV stops abruptly, turning back to Dan who almost runs straight into him.

“You have been slagging me off to the press since before Christmas so I really do not care what I say about you. And I lost the ability to speak to you as a ‘ _friend_ ’, the last time we met” he growls and storms off.

The boys arrive back into the garage after their break and head straight for opposite sides, even looking in different directions.  
Franz looks over at Helmut nervously but he just shrugs. “Leave them to it”

“I don’t think this is going to work..”

“They’ll sort it out”

Jean-Eric is a little surprised at the wide birth Dan gives him over the next few days. The Aussie won’t even so much as make eye contact with him, let alone speak to him. They had separate rooms here in Jerez but that wouldn’t last when they got to the first race in Dan's homeland.  
  
He hadn’t meant the article to actually hurt Dan.. He had had ulterior motives...

He truly couldn't believe that after everything Dan was the one not talking to him, and he was the one on his way to his teammates room to grovel.  Maybe it was the half bottle of whiskey he'd for some reason drank in his hotel room. He was burning up, even though it had rained since they'd arrived in Spain. His hard was pounding. He felt fluey, but he knew himself better than that. It was nerves.  
  
There was a long pause after he'd knocked the door, before Dan finally opened it. He was in a faded black tshirt with baggy black track suit bottoms. His hair was scruffy and he looked as though Jean-Eric had woken him up.   
The Frenchman simply raises an eyebrow at his teammate. "You're not talking to me?" he observes.   
   
"Why would I? We're not 'friends' anymore?" Dan mutters childishly, not making any move to let JEV in but he enters anyway.   
   
"You deny it?" Jean-Eric hooks a beer out of the mini-bar and drops down onto the double bed.  
   
"I thought we were" Dan scowls indignantly, glaring at the drink in his teammates hand, staying rooted to the spot.   
   
"How? What part of the last few months has been 'friends' to you?!"  
   
"You don't understand-"  
   
"I do! You're career is the most important thing to you which is fine, just don't fucking pretend I'm important to!"  
   
"You are-"  
   
"No stop pretending you give a shi-"  
   
"You're not fucking listening!" cheerful Dan finally snaps, slamming the hotel room door shut and turning to glare at the figure on his bed. "You don't understand how hurtful reading that statement was! My mum rang me up to ask what had happened! She didn't believe me when I said I genuinely didn't know!"  
   
"You do know!" Jean-Eric yells with a little less conviction, shocked at Dan's outburst.  
   
"What that I needed some time to think? That I might actually be questioning my sexuality? That I'm 23 and have just had sex with a man for the first time and I'm finding it fucking terrifying!"  
   
JEV's anger visibly drains from his face. In fact, he looks quite pale now.   
   
"No. You didn't think of that. God I wish you'd just think about someone other than yourself for once" Dan shook his head, yanking the door open again and storming out of his apartment.   
   
Jean-Eric swallowed loudly, not sure exactly what had just happened. His heart had been hurting. Since November. Since he'd given himself to Dan, offered everything to him, and Dan had taken it then rejected him.   
He finished his beer and got another one. And another. And another, taking a fourth in one long chug, spluttering a little at the end. He gets up to make a move, feeling instantly light headed from the beer. He wanders across the room, opening the door and looking out down the hallway, but Dan could be anywhere.   
He tries to ring him but it comes as no surprised when he doesn't answer.   
   
All he had to do was say. Tell Jean-Eric he was freaking out. That would have been fine. That he could of accepted.   
Not three months of constantly thinking what had he done wrong? Why had the Aussie tried him and decided against him?  
And thinking that he'd ruined there friendship. His obvious feelings had made Dan too awkward to even be around him anymore... that thought had been the worst. The most tormenting.   
   
There's no more beers in the mini fridge but there is wine, which Jean-Eric prefers anyway. There's no glasses either so he fills one the of the clear plastic cups from by the sink with the Rose and begins getting through that, because why fucking not.  
He doesn't know why he's even drinking, but mostly he thinks, it's because every sip makes a happy ending seem more possible. Or even the ending just being further off. Not right now. There must be more to their story. Surely.   
   
A little over two hours later, the rose is all gone and Jean-Eric is sprawled out in an alcohol induced coma on Dan's bed.   
   
Dan had been out for a long walk to clear his head. He'd had to get out of that apartment before he'd said something he'd regret. Something that couldn't too easily be fixed.   
Sure he was mad. He was mad at his friend for making him question his sexuality in the first place. Mad at him for making Dan want him so bad when they couldn't be together.   
But at the same time he knew Jean-Eric wasn't really to blame, or at least no more than he himself was.   
He'd let this happen.   
   
But he'd had a lot of thinking time, and although he still had a thousand questions, he's got at least a few answers.   
   
Feeling at least part-way relaxed he began to head back to the apartment.   
It was well into the night by now. The sky was a dark velvet tapestry stitched with glowing silver stars. Outside was quiet and cold and crisp and Dan didn't feel at home here. It felt eery and he could feel himself pick up his pace in a bid to get back as quick as possible.   
   
He ghosted through the deserted hotel lobby, tapping his foot as he waited for the lift to take him up to the fourth floor. He was tired. Mentally tired from the million questions constantly in his mind. He yawned as he slid the key card into his door, opening it, he'd never felt more ready for bed.  
   
His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dark of his room after the glaring lights in the hall, but when they did he jumped a mile noticing a figure sprawled out across his bed. It was obviously Jean-Eric, but his heart was still hammering hard at the surprise (and initial intruder fear).   
He sighed. His first thought was to wake the Frenchman up and send him across to his own room, but he noted the empty beer bottles and bottle of wine next to the bed and couldn't bring himself to do so.   
He could search him and try and find his key card but he probably didn't even have it on him. So with a heavy sigh Dan went into his bathroom to change and clean his teeth, putting the problem off for a minute.   
When he returned he still didn't have any good ideas. He stared at the bed. At the Frenchman in it. Tanned skin, scruffy golden brown hair in his face, breathing heavy. He looked troubled.   
   
Shaking his head at the weakness he had for his teammate, he tucked him in and got in the other side, laying as far to the edge as he could, his back to him.  
   
Despite how exhausted he'd been feeling only minutes earlier, he didn't sleep for ages. He was so aware of the other man in his bed. The man who shouldn't be there.   
He thought back to end of the last season. All he'd been thinking of during the races. Where was Jean-Eric? How was he? When Michael had taken him out, Dan had genuinely thought of pulling over to check he was okay. He was shouting down the radio for info. Thoughts like that had no place in his head.   
   
He sighed heavily, fidgeting to get comfy but he couldn't on this side.   
   
He'd thought long and hard over the winter, to decipher his feelings. There was one analogy that seemed to some it up.   
He was hanging from a ledge. It would be difficult to pull himself back up, but he'd be safe once he had. But the easier option was to just let go. To fall into the unknown. To let fate take control.   
   
He knew what he should do. Climb the ledge. Distance himself from JEV. That's what he'd been trying to do. But it hadn't proved as easy as he'd thought it would. He was further gone than he's realized.   
His very being was the thing pulling him down. To the precepie. To face his feelings.   
   
He had gone over the scenario a thousand times. There were so many ways he could go with it. The concept was never ending.   
As he contemplated the many outcomes he finally fell into an uneasy sleep where he was walking through a forrest. He was looking for someone. His teammte. But everytime he thinks he found him, he comes to a clearing in the trees. A lake or a cliff . And he's running. Where the fuck is JEV?!

He wakes up sweating. He doesnt feel like he's slept at all but the sun is up and he can hear birds chirping outside.

He's made up his mind. He needs to talk to Jean-Eric.


	14. Testing.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter.

When Jean-Eric wakes up he doesn't know where he is straight away. All he knows is that his head is killing.   
He rolls over, letting out a large groan as he does and jumping awake when spotting a figure in his bed.   
Luckily it's Dan but he does wonder of he should be a little more careful when drunk or he could wind up next to anyone…  
Dan’s eyes slowly blink open, struggling to focus on his teammate.   
  
"What.." the Frenchman begins but Dan starts shaking his head.   
  
"Dude" he raises a sleepy eyebrow and nods towards what looks like a glass recycling pile of assorted beer bottles and the memories flood back.   
  
"Sorry" Jean-Eric replies rather sheepishly.   
Dan hauls himself out of bed, stretching up high and yawning, unaware of the spectacle he's making of himself to the dazed Frenchman in his bed.   
  
"It's all right man. Y'know, for my friend…"  
  
"Too early!" Jean-Eric groans dropping his head back to the pillow and pulling the quilt over his head. He’s so not ready to have this conversation. Not that he particularly wants to have it like, ever.  
  
"It's okay. We'll drop it" Dan tells him, picking up some towels but stopping for a moment before entering the bathroom. "We do need to talk though. Erm, I'll come to your room when we're done in the garage..."  
  
Slowly Jean-Eric peels the quilt back, eyeing his teammate with suspicion but the older man just dips into the bathroom.   
  
There's a strange sort of tension between them all day. Not like there had been before, they weren't cross with each other. In fact it appeared quite the opposite. Both going out of their way to smile at the other and be helpful, but it all seemed very false and unnatural.   
By lunch Jean-Eric's hangover had really kicked in. He was faced with the simulator in an hours time and the idea of getting into that thing alone made him feel nauseous.   
But what was really on his mind was Dan. Dan and that tone of voice he'd had this morning. 'We do need to talk'. Was that ever a good sign? Like.. ever?! Because of you have good news you usually just out and say it...  
He tried to swallow a few more bites of his sandwich but it was just uncomfortably sticking in his throat, so he headed back into the garage.   
  
Dan was already there, laughing and joking with a few of the engineers. He threw Jean-Eric an overly cheerful wave which the Frenchman reluctantly returned.

The simulator was every bit as bad as the Frenchman had pictured and after only half of the circuit he had to excuse himself (which was surprisingly easy. He obviously hadn’t been hiding his suffering as well as he’d hoped.)

He considers heading straight for the bar. They always say the best cure for a hangover is to start drinking again. Well he’s not sure who says that, but when he catches himself in the chrome-tinted lift mirror he decides that it can’t be true and that drinking more is the last thing he needs.  
His hair is slightly greasy even though he showered, because he’s sweating so much. He has bags under his eyes too. He looks a mess. He wonders briefly what Dan ever saw in him.

He orders a sandwich platter from room service and jumps back into the shower. Once he’s clean and looking half-way presentable he eats his sorrows and drops down onto a the cool metal bench on his balcony and closes his eyes. There’s a warm breeze five floors up above the warehouse and a soft hum of distant cars and voices is drifting up to him.

“Hey”

JEV jumps a mile, nearly toppling backwards off his chair, his heart racing at about a hundred beats a minute.

“Dan!” a flush of colour peaks on the Aussies cheeks.

“Sorry I… thought you heard me come in” he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Er, that’s okay..”

Dan disappears back into the room and comes back with a beer in each hand. Jean-Eric goes to protest, it’s the last thing he fancies, but the look on Daniels face is grave and he realises he may need it.  
Taking a sip from the cool bottle he slides along the bench, making room for his teammate, and casts his eyes out across down below.

“So..”

“So.”

They sit in silence for a while. Dan doesn’t know what to say and Jean Eric doesn’t have the inclination to encourage him. They both know. What has to happen. But until it’s said they can pretend otherwise and although Jean-Eric thinks it’s like a plaster, and you should just rip it off and be over with it, he’s grateful that Dan doesn’t seem to agree. Just because that’s easiest, doesn’t mean it’s… _easiest._

“I guess I owe you an apology” Dan finally says, with a small Dan-esque smile.

“No” Jean-Eric cuts him off. “Please, we’ve been through this. It’s misunderstandings. No more sorries, okay?”

Dan pauses for a moment, seemingly thrown off, but then he cracks a small smile and seems to relax a little. “Okay” he nods. “I guess, well I’ll just try and explain myself then. If I can..” His eyes fall down to his lap, to his hands resting there. He rings them out. “I think I’ve always kind of.. looked up to you. I know that’s weird, I’m older than you” he laughs nervously, braving a quick glance at his teammate before continuing. “But you just always seemed like.. you had it all put together y’know? You’re so confident and people just look up to you. People take you seriously and they wanna be.. around you? Be your friend”

“I don’t.. I don’t know what you me..” Jean-Eric begins quietly but he doesn’t really want to disrupt him. Daniel hops up and leans on the balcony ledge, taking a swift sip of his beer.

“I know” Dan sighs. “I just wanted you to know, I’ve always admired you. But last season, that admiration kind of.. changed. I mean, I don’t want you to think you ever.. encouraged me. At all.”

Jean-Eric feels the knots in his stomach tie tighter as he gets nervous about where this is going.

“Okay..” he says slowly.

“I.. don’t regret doing this, but I regret what it’s done to our friendship, I mean, there’s been so many times this year when I’ve been bored or depressed or just wanted someone to text or hangout with and you’re there, but I’ve stopped myself because things are getting complicated and I don’t want that”

“Dan we’re still friends above everything” Jean-Eric cuts in fiercely.

“I know but this is damaging that. And I worry about that constantly, because I know I keep messing up and I’m scared one day I’m gonna mess up so bad you aren’t gonna want to ever talk to me again”

The Frenchman wants to assure him that that would never happen but he doesn’t. He doesn’t say anything. He just swallows, trying to squash down his feelings because Daniel’s being brave, laying his out on the line and he fears he’s already made up his mind.

Dan smiles at him. It’s a bittersweet smile. “You’re my best-friend” he says. “I don’t want anything to change that”

“You don’t think we could do this and remain friends?” Jean-Eric asks quietly, looking hard at a small stone on the floor.

Dan sucks in a breath. “How could we? Especially with this Red Bull seat business. I think it’s gonna be hard enough just to remain friends”

It’s quiet for a bit and Jean-Eric finishes his beer in a couple of large gulps but it sits uncomfortably in his stomach and he begins to feel nauseous. “I always had a crush on you. Before I even knew I was bi, I just didn’t realise it was a crush then. You make me.. be the person I always wished I was. Cheerful and outgoing. You always just brighten the mood, y’know. You and your stupid smile”

“Hey!” Dan punches him playfully but it’s a half-hearted attempt at normalcy. “Anyway, dude. You can do waaay better than me, you know that”

“I don’t want to”

Dan finishes his beer and forces unnatural conversation about the season but JEV just really wants him to leave now, really wants to be alone.  
Finally, twenty minutes later the Aussie gets up to go.

“Well it’s late, I better.. go” he chews his lip as he reaches the door. He turns to face JEV. “Y’know, we probably won’t be teammates next season”  
It seems completely out of context and Jean-Erics not sure why he’s said it and if he means anything by it.

“I guess not”

Dan clamps a large hand on his friends shoulder and forces eye-contact. “We’ll always be friends” he says firmly.

“Yeah” Jean-Erics voice shakes a little as he tries to speak and he wishes Dan would just get the hell out of there because he doesn’t want him to see.

“I mean it. Now we can go back to hanging out all the time?”

But JEV just doesn’t believe it. Suddenly Dan leans forward, the hand on JEV’s shoulder sliding to his neck and pulling him gently towards him, he pushes his lips hard to his friends in an open mouth kiss that seemed to hold more emotion and feeling than any personal contact ever had.

Daniel is gone before Jean-Eric opens his eyes and when he does he closes them again instantly and wanders to the big double bed  in the middle of the hotel room and drops down, pulling the quilt over his head and letting out a long breath. Well, he’d got through it. He’d got through it and it had been every bit as bad as he’d imagined.

But hey, maybe Dan was right. Maybe this was for the best. Them being friends. It’s better than them continuing this, whatever this was, falling out and then never speaking again.

His mind flicked through his memories from the whirlwind that was the last year and a half. They’d really been through a lot, and Dan was right, with this Red Bull thing coming up, silly season, they still had a lot to go through, and who knew where they’d be a year from now? Maybe they have completely drifted apart? JEV didn’t think so though. He couldn’t see them going back to what they had been, but he was pretty sure Dan would always be an important part of his life. They’d been through a lot, and they’d done it together, and that was always going to be the case.

A tight smile pulled at his lips as he thought about how lucky he was to have had Dan there, this whole time. He couldn’t think of a better teammate or best friend and the smile loosened and widened as water gathered at his lashes, spilling over when he squeezed his eyes tighter shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look out for epilogue! I really hope you've enjoyed this :)


End file.
